Technical support for recovery process of damaged cultural heritage sites in the historical district of Padang, Indonesia

The older part of Padang affected by the earthquakes
Workshop on recovery process in Padang
Visit to a disaster area in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture

 The historical district of the City of Padang, West Sumatra was seriously damaged by earthquakes occurring off the coast of West Sumatra in September 2009. Since November of that year, the National Research Institute of Cultural Properties, Tokyo, has continued to support the recovery process of damaged cultural heritage sites in the district. This year, field studies were undertaken by Japanese experts, and a local workshop focusing on the topics of earthquake-resistant construction, disaster countermeasures, and risk management was conducted from January 4th to 13th, 2012 within the framework of emergency programs by the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs. Afterwards, Indonesian experts were invited to Japan from January 19th to 25th. Proposed restoration efforts are based on Japan’s own experiences following the March 11th, 2011 disaster in Tohoku.
 At the workshop, examples of efforts to restore damaged cultural heritage sites in Japan were presented, and earthquake countermeasures and townscape preservation of the the historical district were discussed on-site. In addition to surveys of restoration of damaged historical buildings and townscapes, field studies proposed seismic retrofits based on basic structural surveys and those studies examined the architecture of traditional townhouses. Indonesian experts who were invited to Japan were able to talk with personnel actively working on restoration and earthquake countermeasures on-site in affected areas like Tohoku. This series of programs helped to clarify issues with reconstruction of damaged cultural heritage sites in Padang two years after the earthquakes. Further cooperation is needed for more specific action plans so that valuable historical heritage sites are not lost.

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